30th annual Forty Under 40 event to feature 3 speakers

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by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) ago 50 views 

Plans for the 30th anniversary of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 luncheon are being finalized. This year’s class will be celebrated at a luncheon Aug. 11 at Embassy Suites in Rogers. The event is sponsored by Intrust Bank.

This year, NWABJ Editor-in-Chief Roby Brock will moderate a panel discussion with the following three guests:

  • Robert Burns, director of the Home Region Program at the Walton Family Foundation.
  • Blake Woolsey, chief strategy and communications officer for the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business. She’s had stints with Mitchell Communications and Heartland Forward and serves on the board of directors for the Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA).
  • Rebecca Hurst, managing partner and a founder of Smith Hurst PLC, is an adjunct professor at the UA School of Law.

The conversation will center on leadership and personal growth, the role these honorees have in shaping the future of Northwest Arkansas, and a larger worldview for the region and its potential.

“I know Robert, Blake and Rebecca will all bring their unique perspectives to this discussion, and I’m excited to hear their thoughts on these topics,” Brock said. “We also do a private session with the honorees, and I am truly looking forward to commentary on how they view the future of Northwest Arkansas.”

The milestone year puts the Forty Under 40 recognition into its fourth decade of honoring the region’s best and brightest leaders. Brock said looking back at the list of past honorees is a very satisfying reward of the work that goes into this award every year.

“Each year, this event shines a spotlight on a new generation of leadership,” he said. “To have done this for three decades is a remarkable achievement. I’m really proud of everyone, past and present, who have earned this recognition. Most importantly, I’m proud of how the alumni of Forty Under 40 have developed into major leaders impacting the destiny of this region and the state as a whole.”